DE GRASSE AK 223

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Crater Class Cargo Ship Keel Laid January 31 1943 as Maritime Commission type (EC2-S-C1) hull Launched February 24 1943 NATHANIEL J. WYETH Classified Transport (AP) and renamed October 27 1943 Acquired by U.S. Navy October 28 1943 USS DE GRASSE AP-164 Commissioned November 8 1943 USS DE GRASSE AK-223 Reclassified Cargo Ship (AK) August 20 1944 Decommissioned March 28 1946 Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA Original name restored Struck from Naval Register April 17 1946 Sold February 10 1970 to Union Minerals & Alloys, Corp for scrap

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1     (1946)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

NO DE GRASSE POSTMARKS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

DATE FROM to DATE TO

Note:

 

Other Information

DE GRASSE earned 3 Battle Stars (WWII)
* Marshall Islands operation, Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, February - March 1944
* Marianas operation, Capture and occupation of Saipan, June - July 1944
* Okinawa Gunto operation, Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1945

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3)
World War II Victory Medal
Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

NAMESAKE - Admiral Comte de Grasse (1722-1788)
De Grasse commanded the French Fleet which defeated the British in the Battle off the Virginia Capes, September 5 1781. Lord Cornwallis' army, cut off from sea support by De Grasse, surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown, the most decisive victory of the Revolutionary War

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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